


Superpowered

by Phoebmonster



Series: shiny motor cars and eyeglasses full of stars [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fighting, Kind of angsty, Needles, Swearing, chapter 3 is a bit darker, kind of cute, multi-chapter, pre and post hydra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-06
Updated: 2014-07-16
Packaged: 2018-02-03 15:50:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1750124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoebmonster/pseuds/Phoebmonster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So Skye might have a superpower, but what could it be? Time to investigate...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Spark

**Author's Note:**

> So this went from very cute to not very cute and I am sorry  
> also this is kind of a prologue? the next chapter will be much cuter I promise  
> also in 2 weeks i'll be done with exams so more time for writing hell yeah  
> this isn't in the same universe as the previous one so no established skimmons sorry

"So you're saying I could have a superpower?" Skye asked her friend incredulously.  
Skye and Jemma were sat facing each other on the couch, Skye having just explained about what Coulson told her a few days prior. Jemma was intrigued, and Skye could tell she was itching to get Skye down to the lab and run tests.  
"If you're an 084, then it's possible. Could I take a blood sample? It would rule out some possibilities..."  
Skye wrinkled her nose.  
"No way. You've taken too much blood already. I'll figure this one out on my own."  
The next day, Skye was bored. Ward had decided to give her a day off, mainly because he'd stupidly challenged Fitz to play Mario Kart with him and was now stuck, determined to play until he won. Apparently SHIELD's budget covered a Wii but didn't cover more than two controllers, so Skye was sat in her bunk listening to the shouts from downstairs. After listening to several cries of 'take that princess!' and 'you think you can win this, you overgrown lizard!', she'd had enough. Skye decided the only revenge was to make herself some delicious pancakes, then go down and eat them in the lab. That would annoy them.  
Jemma came up ten minutes later to find Skye in the kitchen, her hair dusted with flour and batter on her chin. She was poking the pancake in the pan experimentally with a spatula.   
"Hey, Jem, do we have any syrup? Because I made twice as much mix as was needed, so I think we're gonna need syrup."  
Jemma rolled her eyes as she pulled the syrup from the top cupboard.   
"By we, you mean..."  
"Just me and you, maybe Coulson or May, if they want some. The boys aren't getting anything." Skye grinned as she shook the pan and the pancake slid down the other end. "Jem, maybe this is my superpower, best at flipping pancakes!"  
Skye flipped the pancake with so much vigour; it flipped twice, before landing on the cooker hood. It slid slowly down, and then flopped on the floor with a pathetic squelch. Jemma giggled.  
"If that's your superpower, I'm so glad. The city is sound, with Superhero Skye around!"  
Skye picked the pancake up, before throwing it in the bin and moving the pan back on the hob.   
"Okay, so not pancakes. Still, I'll keep looking. Do you want a go?"  
A week later, Jemma and Fitz were curled up on the sofa watching some British drama, whilst Skye was lying on the floor on her laptop.   
"The killer is the godmother. She did it with a butcher's knife." Skye said absent mindedly. Fitz scoffed.   
"You have to be joking. It's clearly the factory worker. He had motive and opportunity." Jemma tutted pulled the popcorn from Fitz's grasp, offering some to Skye.  
"Nonsense, Fitz. It's a red herring - the killer's clearly the college professor, he was caught on camera at the casino where it happened. His son's also a carpenter, so he would have lots of tools. It would be easy for him to frame him." Fitzsimmons bickered idly for a few minutes and Skye rolled her eyes.  
"It's the coat! I can't believe you've forgotten the coat."  
In the last few minutes of the show, Fitzsimmons gawked at the screen as the chiselled detective held up a blood stained fur coat and the godmother made her confession. When the credits started to roll, they looked at Skye in awe.  
"How they hell ..." started Fitz.  
"...did you know it was her?" finished Jemma.  
"They revealed it ..."  
"...in like the last five minutes!"  
Skye sat up and looked at the science twins seriously.  
"I've been keeping it to myself but ... I think I can see into the future."  
Fitz gasped and Jemma raised her eyebrows.  
"I think ...”   
Fitzsimmons hung onto Skye's every word as she weighed up what she was about to say.  
"In the future..."   
They waited with baited breath.  
"You two will realise what gullible idiots you are!"  
Fitzsimmons looked so disappointed that Skye couldn't help but laugh.  
"The show aired like 3 weeks ago in the UK, I watched it illegally. I can't believe you guys thought I could see into the future. What's next, mind reading?"  
Jemma blushed and Fitz gave a huff of annoyance before turning back to the TV.  
A few days afterwards, Skye was in the shower, humming and rubbing the shampoo through her hair. They'd just got back from infiltrating the Turkish embassy in Paris, where a group of would be assassins were planning to unleash a weapon which could dissolve anything in its path - people included. Whilst Fitz examined the device, Jemma was patching up Ward and May and Coulson had gone to the control room to inform HQ.   
Skye had decided to get into the shower first and hog the hot water for a bit. She did have to crawl through several dusty air vents and too much dust made Fitz sneeze like a startled rabbit - that would be the excuse she'd tell Ward later. Skye twirled the water around her finger and a thought struck her. She stood a little way out of the shower and concentrated, trying to push the water to the other side of the shower. "Oh come on. This would be such a good power! Move!"  
Skye started moving her arms around wildly but stopped abruptly when she heard a knock on the door.  
"Skye? Is that you? We're landing in 15, just so you know." May's voice floated through the door and Skye blushed furiously.  
"Shit!" May must have heard her strange outburst and Skye knew she was probably smirking away. "Thank you... I'll be out in a minute." She tried to sound casual, but Skye knew May would see right through it.  
20 minutes later, Skye appeared in the lab, brushing her hair through. "Jem, you can cross water-bending off your list of possible superpowers."  
Jemma appeared from behind a mass spectrometer wearing her ridiculous oversized lab glasses. "We're keeping a list?"  
"We are now. It's scientific, y'know?"  
The list 'Superpowers Skye doesn't have' extended to -  
\- Flipping pancakes  
\- Seeing the future  
\- Water bending  
\- Fire bending  
\- Eating more than 27 Oreos in one sitting  
\- Being able to lift Fitz with one arm   
(Ward can do it, why can't I?)  
\- Being able to beat Jemma at Mario Kart   
(How do you always get to be Mario? I'm always Luigi so it's unfair)  
\- Mind reading / telepathy  
\- Super speed  
\- Super strength  
\- Super-at-doing-crosswords  
\- Super-at-doing-sudoku’s   
\- Puzzles in general   
It would have been longer, but then bottom dropped out of Skye's world and everything changed.  
In the following weeks, Skye wished she had a superpower, a real, serious superpower. When she saw the blood dripping from the ceiling, and felt the icy weight of Ward's betrayal in her stomach, she wished she was strong and mighty, and could crush him with a swing of her fist. She wished she could kick him in his smug grin and see him reel, she wished she could stop the sound of his lies with a swift punch to the stomach. She wished she could make him pay.   
When Garrett mentioned Fitz and Simmons, Skye wished she could fly. She would swoop up to the plane and tear the casing off, then pull Garrett from the plane and throw him out. See him suffer as the water pulled him under. Then she could save Jemma and Fitz from their fate then fly into the sunset as the plane she'd once called home crashed and burnt below her.  
When she saw Fitz hooked up to the machine, she wished she could heal. Bring back the colour to his pallid cheeks and help his heartbeat, strong and healthy, instead of hearing the pathetic blip's of the heart monitor and see Jemma sat on his other side, holding his hand too tightly. Skye wanted to be able to place her hands on his forehead and knit the bones of his arm back together and fill his lungs with air. She wanted to dispel the taste of the doctor's words, the 'permanent brain damage' and the 'oxygen deprivation' and the 'may never be the same again.'  
But most of all, Skye wished she had a superpower at night, when she could hear the muffled sobs in the bed next to hers as Jemma cried herself to sleep. Skye wanted to be able to reverse everything that had happened because Jemma Simmons upset wasn't allowed, there must be a clause in the universe somewhere which meant she could never be unhappy and Skye was prepared to move the stars to make that happen.  
But all she could do was climb into the bed too and hold Jemma as she cried into her pillow. When they woke up in the morning, neither said a word to the other. It was just one more thing they didn't talk about.  
It got better, slowly.   
When Jemma has shrieked so loudly and Skye had ran into Fitz's room to find him awake with his eyes wide and they'd hugged so tightly and Jemma cried.  
When he started eating properly and not from a tube in his arm and Tripp made lasagne which wasn't from a packet and Tripp had held out his hand for a high five but Fitz punched the outstretched palm gently and Tripp smiled as Fitz cleared his plate.  
When he read his favourite science journals with ease and the doctor was happy to report he his intelligence hadn't suffered and that he should consider himself very lucky and Coulson beamed even though he'd assured Fitz he'd stay on the team no matter what.  
When May had managed to coax him into walking a few shaking steps along the corridor and he looked like a new born deer but Jemma grinned and held Skye's hand and they grinned together.  
~~~~~~  
The bus really had turned into a bus, ferrying stolen 084's around from the Hub to the Fridge and the Playground. They were loading a batch of objects confiscated from a Hydra splinter cell in Chicago, everyone lugging the objects up the ramp and Jemma securing them in the lab, making careful notes on each one.  
"Oi, Tripp! Slow down a bit, not all of us are super strong..." Tripp and Fitz were carrying a huge laser between them and Fitz was getting annoyed - manual labour wasn't his strong suit. Skye placed her box down by the stairs and rolled her eyes.  
It all happened too fast.  
Fitz tripped on a stray cable and Tripp caught the device but it released a pulse of silver light and it shattered the glass of the lab window. The one Jemma was standing right behind.  
Skye had her arms outstretched and her eyes shut tight. Jemma is dead she thought, over and over, feeling cold and lightheaded like someone had pulled her spine out but it didn't stop her thinking, over and over, Jemma is dead and I couldn't save her.  
It was too quiet.   
Skye imagined there would be more screaming. She wondered why she wasn't screaming.   
Someone gripped her shoulder tightly. Maybe she was screaming after all.  
"Skye, it's okay." Skye heard Coulson's voice, calming and gentle but muffled, like he was standing at the deep end of a swimming pool.  
That didn't sound like the sort of thing you'd say to someone who's best friend has just died right in front of them and they couldn't do anything just like last time.  
"Skye, you can stop now."  
Skye cracked her eyes open slowly. Everyone was looking at her like she'd grown another head. Skye looked towards the lab and gasped.  
The glass had shattered, but the pieces were held in mid-air, vicious shards surrounded by tendrils of golden energy. Jemma stood in the middle, glass inches from her face. It hung there, and Skye made a small 'oh' sound. Jemma was alive.   
Then Skye looked at her hands and saw the golden light filtering between her fingers. 'Oh' was all she could think of to say, before the spine removal feeling came back and she collapsed, the glass following her down and smashing at Jemma's feet.  
~~~   
When Skye opened her eyes, she felt a terrible sense of deja vu. She was lying on a bed in the medipod, connected to machines which bleeped occasionally to tell her she was very much alive. Skye turned her head and Jemma was there in an instance, holding her hand and stroking her forehead, with a soft smile on her face.  
"Oh good, you're awake. I was getting worried. How are you feeling?"  
Skye wrinkled her nose and tried to sit up. "Hungry."  
Jemma giggled and helped Skye into a sitting position.   
"Jem ... what happened?"  
Jemma sat down in the chair next to Skye, but didn't let go of her hand and Skye was very grateful for that.  
"It seems you found your superpower. Fitz is running tests now - I took some blood, I hope you don't mind."  
Skye was silent for a minute, running a hand through her hair.  
"I've got a superpower. Really? A superpower?"  
Skye wiggled her fingers as if the energy would come back and do something cool again. It didn't.  
"Thank you, Skye."  
Skye stopped wiggling and looked at Jemma, tilting her head slightly.  
"For saving me. I'm very grateful, so ... thank you."  
Jemma stood up and pressed a kiss to Skye's forehead and Skye would have been incredibly happy if the heart monitor hadn't started to have a fit, beeping like mad. Skye blushed and hid her face in her hands and the beeping stopped as the glass on the screen of the heart monitor shattered. The golden light illuminated Skye's face for a minute before flowing back into her fingertips.  
Jemma giggled and Skye peeked out from behind her fingertips.  
"I'll pay for a new one. Sorry."  
"Don't worry about it, Skye. I've wanted a new one for ages anyway. So, what do you want to eat?"  
"Hmm?"  
"You said you were hungry..."  
"Oh yeah ... Have we got any curly fries?"  
Jemma smiled and nodded, disappearing from the room in a swirl of white coat and curly hair.  
Skye groaned and glared at her fingertips. She could feel that some parts about being a superhero were going to really suck.


	2. Flame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye gets to grips with her new power ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kno it's a rubbish summary but this is basically a fic on its own ... so enjoy!

"May, you have to help me."  
Skye barrelled into the cockpit and sat heavily in the co-pilots chair.  
May smirked, but didn't take her eyes off the dark blue horizon.  
"I can't control my power. Like at all. I think I owe SHIELD at least $3000 in damages already and Fitz has started to jump every time I walk into a room. I've also been eating so much. I had three packets of curly fries to myself yesterday and I'm still permanently hungry. What's happening to me?"  
May didn't react straight away; instead she adjusted some levers and flicked a few switches above her head.  
"I can help you control your power, but you need to learn to control your emotions."  
Skye felt herself blush and she turned away, bringing her knees up to her chest.  
"I...I don't know what you mean."  
Of course she did. She only lost control of her powers when a certain bio chemist walked in. In the last week, she'd broken twelve test tubes just from Jemma running her hands through her hair when she worked. She'd short circuited the bus' electrics twice from Jemma laughing, and blown all the lights in the lab when she'd said that Skye's hair looked pretty that day.  
"You levitated a couch when she hugged you, Skye."  
Skye blushed even more and May rolled her eyes.  
"It didn't go that high..."  
"Fitz and Trip were still on it!"  
Skye giggled when she remembered the look of terror on the boy's faces when they realised they were floating.  
"It's really obvious, isn't it?" Skye asked half-heartedly.  
"Not to her. Just talk to her, please. For all our sakes."  
"...When I figure out how to control my power. Or when we're on the ground. I don't want to snap the plane in half or something."  
May was about to argue, then she realised it was probably for the best. Coulson was already annoyed about the damage Skye had already caused, and May didn't want to add any more to the list.  
"Fine. We land at a training facility tomorrow. I'll speak to Coulson about it."  
Skye sighed in relief and hopped out of the chair.  
"Thanks, May, you're the best. Do you want something to eat? Because I'm starving."  
May shook her head and Skye bounced along the corridor, hoping that Jemma was in the lab so she could make herself a sandwich without worrying about blowing all the doors off the bunks or something.  
\-----------------------------------  
"We're going to spend the next few weeks here - I managed to get the place for ourselves. It's got full sized bedrooms, a lab and a kitchen with fresh food and everything."   
Coulson smiled his small and vaguely creepy smile as the team looked on the concrete compound, but Skye was more focused on the huge training ground. It had climbing walls, tennis courts, football pitches, assault courses...  
"We've got this all to ourselves?" asked Trip incredulously.  
"I mentioned that Skye's power was a little ... volatile. People didn't seem to want to stay after that." May smirked and Skye blushed.  
They made their way into the compound, with Jemma and Fitz trailing a little way behind, carrying boxes of lab equipment.  
"I'm glad they have all this training space. We could ask Trip to get you cleared for the field again." Jemma said, nudging Fitz with her elbow.  
"Yeah, I guess. But I'm not sure if Coulson will ever let us in the field again. He barely lets us out of the lab." whined Fitz.  
"He'll come round. We're safe here anyway. And it can't hurt just to get you cleared for it ..."  
The inside of the compound was much nicer than its sparse grey facade. The main living area had a huge TV and sofas with lots of brightly coloured cushions on. The kitchen was shiny and state of the art, but still had cupboards stacked with food. Tripp emptied some fruit into the basket and tossed an apple to Skye who caught it with ease. "Wow. This place is swish, AC."  
Coulson smiled again, dropping some bags onto the kitchen counter.  
"Perks of being director, I guess."  
Skye took a bite out of her apple before she realised something and took off down the corridor. Tripp, Fitz and Jemma all looked at each other, then the penny dropped. "Bedrooms!" cried Fitz as he heaved his bag onto one shoulder and they all started to run down the corridor after her.   
There were six bedrooms, all of uniform size and with minimal decoration, but each had its own bathroom which was a bonus. Jemma was last down the corridor and stuck her head in the first bedroom. It seemed empty, so she dumped her stuff on the bed and went next door to find Skye staring out of the window.  
"Nice view?" she asked innocently, but Skye jumped and whirled around. Suddenly, all the legs on Skye's bed vanished, and Skye landed on the lowered mattress with a thump.  
"Oww... Jem, don't sneak up on me like that!"  
Skye rubbed her back and glared at Jemma, who was laughing and pointing.  
"The look on your face!" was all she could say between bouts of giggles.  
Skye turned to see the rest of the team standing at the doorway.   
"Tomorrow! I'm going to start training tomorrow and learn to control this stupid power!" Skye's outburst was followed by all the lights exploding, and the team was plunged into darkness.  
"I'll go reset the fuse box..." sighed Coulson as three little flashlights flickered on and bobbed back down the corridor. “Oh bloody hell!" said Fitz, still fumbling about in the doorway. "I don't have a torch, dammit. Tripp! Wait up!"  
Skye groaned and sat on her hands. She felt Jemma moving above her, then felt her hand cupping her face and a kiss pressed to her forehead.  
"Sorry, Skye. I promise I won't sneak up on you again."  
Skye heard Jemma leave and she was glad it was dark because she would've blown the lights all over again after that.  
\-----------------------------------  
If someone were to ask Skye what her first week training was like, she would have pointed them towards the opening bars of 'I'll make a man out of you' from Mulan. Full of pain and disappointment.  
She was hopeless at controlling her power. May was trying a range of activities, from lifting things to punching things, and Skye couldn't seem to get her power to co-operate. To make matters worse, Jemma had started to observe her training sessions to try and calculate the limits of Skye's power.  
"Skye! I said levitate the bag, not smash windows! You have to concentrate!"  
"Skye! It's a target. Shoot something at it! Anything!"  
"Skye! Do not bring down the roof! Not again!"  
May's voice swirled in Skye's head as they stood on the tennis court, May at the other end with her hand on the lever which fired tennis balls at a high velocity. Right at Skye's face.  
"Skye are you listening to me?"  
"Please can we take a break, May. I'm not getting anywhere with this."  
May answered by firing five more tennis balls at Skye. Four hit her in the stomach and one hit her right in the jaw. Skye heard Jemma wince and Skye gave up, choosing instead to lie face down on the tarmac. Her shoulders and neck felt like they were burning, and although Skye was only dressed in a thin tank top and shorts, she was still boiling hot.  
"If I could control it, I would." Skye moaned into the ground.  
May sighed.  
"I guess this isn't working then. Right, go sit on the side."  
Skye hauled herself up and collapsed onto the bench, looking dejectedly at her friend. Jemma handed her a bottle of water and a protein bar which Skye ate in one bite.  
"Jemma, you stand on the court." said May nonchalantly.  
"What?" said Skye through a mouthful of protein bar.  
"Skye, the only time you've been able to control your power was when someone else was in danger. So, we'll try something new and do this instead."  
May smirked as Skye shot her a panicked look.  
"I don't mind, Skye." said Jemma, patting Skye on the back and standing up. "It can't be too bad."  
Jemma stood in front of the machine, fidgeting with her shirt. May fired the machine as Skye swallowed.  
"Hey! I wasn't ready!" Skye blurted out but stopped when she saw the ball hanging in mid-air, at least a foot from Jemma's face. She grinned and gave Skye a thumbs up. "See, I knew you could..." May flicked the lever again and held it down, as a barrage of tennis balls ascended on the scientist. Jemma squealed, but when she opened her eyes, all the tennis balls were suspended in front of her. The last one sailed through the air and tapped her nose gently before falling on the floor. "Suck it." was all Skye could say before the world tilted alarmingly, and her head smacked on the cold concrete.  
\-----------------------------------  
Skye woke up with a groan. She was back in a hospital bed, but at least monitors weren't beeping aggressively. Jemma was sat on a chair by the end of her bed, reading. She snapped to book shut when she heard the groan.  
"Hello Skye. How are you feeling?"  
"Like someone assaulted me with tennis balls." Skye rubbed her eyes and sat up carefully.  
"What happened to me?"  
"You ran out of energy. Quite literally." Jemma started, pulling out a file with complicated looking diagrams on. "Your power doesn't seem to be mixing well with your blood sugar - you're using up so much energy, even when you're not training. It's like a strange opposite of diabetes."  
Skye wrinkled her nose. "So what, you're going to have to inject me with sugar or something to keep me going?"  
"I considered that, but that would most likely lead to you being crazily active for a few hours, and then passing out. Not ideal." Jemma turned the page to show a picture of a small box with a tube running from it, into a clear tap shaped thing.  
"I think it would be better to use one of these. We insert in just below your diaphragm, then have the tube coming out just above your stomach. It would release a steady cocktail of sugars into your blood, and you'd only have to be injected twice daily. I would have liked to insert it lower, but you've got a lot of scar tissue which I don't want to mess with."  
"Wait, does this mean an operation?" Skye shuddered. She hated operations. The last one had left her barely alive, with only a miracle drug able to save her.  
"It'll only be a small one. They won't even use general anaesthetic, I don't think. The surgeon's coming down tomorrow, he knows more than I do about it all."  
Skye groaned. "When's the surgery then?"  
Jemma looked sheepish. "Day after tomorrow."  
"Don't I get a say in this?"  
"No, not really. I'm your official doctor now, and unless you want me following you around, injecting you with sugar every 20 minutes, you're going to have to go in for the operation."  
Skye huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I really haven't missed Doctor Simmons. She's so bossy."  
Jemma rolled her eyes and put the file back onto the small bedside table.  
"I thought you'd be happy - no more training until two weeks after the surgery. You need time to heal, and I need time to get the sugars right."  
"So two weeks of doing nothing, whilst you inject a bunch of unknown chemicals into me? Brilliant." Jemma's face fell a bit so Skye nudged her in the stomach. "It'll be much better if Doctor Simmons left, and Jemma stayed and we played board games and watched films for two weeks. Does that sound okay?" Jemma grinned and nodded. "Well, we can start now. I'll go get my ..." Skye swung her legs over the bed and tried to stand up, but was struck with a wave of nauseating dizziness. Jemma was by her side in an instant, one arm around her waist, the other on her stomach. She eased Skye back into the bed and Skye grinned apologetically.  
"I'll go get your laptop. Be back in a mo."  
Whilst Jemma was gone, Skye scooted up the bed and ran her hands through her until she looked slightly less like she'd been unconscious for a few hours. Jemma came back in, carrying the laptop which she set down on Skye's knees. Skye motioned for her to get in the bed too. "Right, get in then."  
"W-what?"  
"You said you'd watch films with me."  
Skye leaned in and winked at Jemma. "I won't tell Doctor Simmons if you don't"   
Jemma rolled her eyes and took off her lab coat, folding it carefully over the chair before getting into the bed next to Skye.  
"So, what did you want to watch?" asked Jemma as she pulled her hair from its ponytail. Skye suddenly felt her fingertips grow hot, so she quickly put them underneath her laptop. This would not be the best time to bust the electrics.  
"Umm... I was thinking Mulan. It's like the best Disney film." Jemma grinned and nodded. "Sounds great!"  
Fitz and Tripp came round a few hours later to check up on the pair. "Jemma, you'll never guess what I ...oh" The two girls were sat on the bed, fast asleep, with their hands intertwined and Jemma's head on Skye's shoulder. They woke with a start at the sound of Fitz's voice, and an old IV line crashed down and hit Fitz on the head. "Oww!" he cried as Skye rubbed her eyes and tried to get her bearings. "Oh Fitz! I am so sorry!" cringed Skye as the golden energy made its way back into her fingertips. Tripp pushed the line back to where it belonged and Jemma got out of the bed quickly to examine Fitz's head. "You'll be fine, but don't wake Skye again okay? This room has lots of expensive equipment in." Jemma patted Fitz’s head and Tripp laughed. "He better be fine. Fitz made it to the top of the climbing wall today." Jemma beamed and Fitz gave her a small smile. "C'mon, I think I owe you a beer." Trip said as he walked off towards the kitchen.  
Fitz grinned properly and started to follow, but stopped short in the doorway.  
"Do you guys want to come too?"  
"I better not. I'm still a bit shaky from earlier." said Skye, loading up the internet on her laptop.  
"Jemma?"  
"I'm just going to have an early night. Doctor Raymond is coming at eight, and I want to have all of Skye's charts ready for when he does."  
Fitz shrugged. "Well, your loss. See you later!"  
Fitz left, and Jemma went to pick up her book.  
"Will you be alright, Skye? Sleeping here tonight?"  
Skye nodded and yawned.  
"I'll be fine. Night, Jems."  
Jemma grinned and switched off the light, so the only light came from the glow of Skye's laptop screen.  
"Goodnight, Skye."  
\-----------------------------------  
"This was a terrible idea. Why did I agree to this? This is terrible. I don't want this."  
Skye was panicking. Everything had been fine yesterday, with Doctor Raymond assuring her the procedure was totally normal and if it went off without a hitch, she'd be back training within two weeks. She wouldn't even need complicated post - op care, as Jemma was perfectly qualified to make sure the machine worked as it should. They'd even agreed to give her a general anaesthetic, so she'd be totally out of it and her power wouldn't get in the way of the operation.  
"It'll be fine, Skye, don't worry."   
Jemma said soothingly as she tapped the end if the needle and inserted it into the vein on the inside of Skye's elbow. Skye winced.  
"This should take effect in a couple of minutes, so just try to relax."  
Skye couldn't relax. The light was too bright, and she was lying down on the operating table in her flimsy hospital gown. Dr Raymond was at the other end of the room, humming as he washed his hands.  
"I don't want this, Jems. Tell him to go away." Skye pleaded, her voice slurring slightly as the medicine took effect.  
"It'll be fine, trust me. I'll stay right here until you wake up." Jemma said as she sat on a stool next to the table. She held Skye’s hand and used her free hand to smooth the hair back from her forehead.  
Skye smiled and thanked a deity that the anaesthetic seemed to render her power useless.   
"You'll be here when I wake up." Skye muttered, her eyelids fluttering.  
"Right here. Sleep now, darling."  
The last thing Skye felt before she drifted off was the feeling of Jemma's hands in her hair.  
\-----------------------------------  
Skye woke up slowly. The curtains were drawn with only a sliver of pale light illuminated to room, along with the intermittent flashing from the machines. Skye tentatively felt her stomach, counting the stitches. Suddenly, Skye became aware of another person in the room and looked down to see Jemma, snuffling in her sleep. She was curled up on the floor with a duvet, using her lab coat as a pillow.   
When she fell asleep again, the light illuminating the room was more golden than silver.  
\-----------------------------------  
The next two weeks passed in a blur. Jemma's concoctions of sugar solutions were hit and miss for a few days, with Skye either staying up all night typing a mile a minute, or passing out face first into her breakfast cereal. To make matters worse, Skye couldn't seem to keep any food down, and she really hated being sick. The only thing that made it better was that Jemma would always be there to hold her hair and rub circles on her back, bringing her water when she was finished. She even curled up next to Skye when the watched films, even though Skye felt all gross and sticky.  
They managed to watch every Disney film Skye had on her hard drive, and they soon moved onto Star Wars, with Jemma even agreeing to watch Lord of the Rings. (She fell asleep within the first half hour, then woke with a start at the loud sounds of the battles. Skye laughed so hard all the drawers by her bed flew open and all the clothes flew out.)  
Fitz and Tripp sometimes joined them and they played every single board game the facility had. Tripp found a pack of cards in the bottom of his bag and the whole team spent one evening playing a fierce poker tournament. May won, but was kind enough not to take all of the winnings, especially since Trip had bet his car, Fitz had bet the lab and   
Skye had bet her own soul.  
The next day, Skye was trying to play Jenga on her own when Jemma walked in with a vial of clear liquid.  
"This is definitely the one! I tested it on like three lab rats, and Fitz. This will definitely work."  
Skye wasn't convinced.  
"How is Fitz now?"  
Jemma looked sheepish as she poured the liquid into a syringe.  
"He was certainly very ... energetic. I think Tripp said he'd completed the assault course three times, but maybe he's just extra enthusiastic today."  
Skye rolled her eyes and pulled up her t-shirt. The scar from the operation was tiny, invisible in comparison to the larger two which marred the tanned skin of her stomach. Skye peeled back the plaster and took the syringe from Jemma, inserting it into the small tap with protruded from her stomach. Jemma had insisted she start to self-medicate, and Skye was getting better at it as each day passed.  
"Feel anything?" asked Jemma tentatively, sticking the plaster back on gently.  
"Not yet. Do you want to stay and play Jenga? I can't tell if I'm winning or losing."  
Jemma grinned and settled herself on the end of the bed as Skye reassembled the model.  
"So, if this stuff works, will I be able to go back into training?"  
Skye asked casually, taking a block from the middle of the tower.  
"It depends really. I'll do a physical, and if you clear that, it's up to Coulson."  
Jemma stuck her tongue out as she made her move.  
"Fab. It'll be good to get out of this stupid room." Skye pulled the block out quickly, grinning triumphantly.  
Jemma didn't reply, instead she concentrated on pulling the block out from near the top of the tower.  
"Jem?"  
"Yes, Skye?"  
"Do you think I could do it?"  
Jemma looked up, confused.  
"Do what?"  
"Be a hero."  
Skye said in a small voice, not meeting Jemma's gaze.  
"Skye ... Of course you could be a hero. I mean you already are! All the times you've saved the team, saved our lives... you don't need this power to be a hero." Skye grinned as Jemma waved her hands about, trying to emphasise her point.  
Skye was about to reply when Jemma gasped.  
"Skye! That's cheating!"  
Skye looked at the tower to see tendrils of golden light pulling out the next block. The block landed just above her hand, and Skye twirled it in the air. She grinned as a smile spread across Jemma's features. "Oh wow. It works! This is brilliant! I'll call Coulson..."  
Jemma leapt off the bed and Skye laughed, focusing the energy on Jemma's phone, taking it out of her back pocket and placing it in her hands.  
\-----------------------------------  
Skye's training - a report by Doctor Jemma Simmons  
Day Six  
Skye has come on leaps and bounds in the last few days. The medication (see previous notes) is being administered twice daily, and appears to provide Skye with the energy boost she needs to control her power. Skye is also eating a regular amount of food a day, and not vomiting. (Several theories on why this is, will write up further in future papers.)  
Initial assessment has revealed Skye's power can take three different courses of action.  
Course A - telekinesis  
Skye can move objects at will, seemingly unaffected by their weight, velocity or size. Biggest object moved to date has been three jeeps, to a height of three feet above the ground. It is noted that Agent Triplett was still in one of those jeeps, and was totally unaware he was part of Skye's training until it was too late.  
Course B - object creation  
Skye can create any object at will, which she and others can interact with. This includes the creation of weapons ranging from shields to swords. Skye has a preference for magical/supernatural inspired weaponry, and has for the past week refused to fight with anything but Thor's hammer. She can also create specific organisms which have complex movements and interesting personalities - her power seems only limited by her imagination.  
(Jemma didn't write down the hours spent in lab, with Fitz and Tripp shouting out various animals for Skye to create. Skye laughed so much she fell off her chair because Fitz shrieked like a little girl when an eagle landed on his head. She made it up to him by giving him a monkey lab assistant for twenty minutes)  
However, her creations only last when she is concentrating on them fully. Any distraction results in the object dissipating back into energy.  
Course C - enhanced physical abilities  
Skye's fitness has also improved greatly, though this is more likely to be attributed to the medication which means she can train without feeling overly tired. She is faster and stronger than anyone else in the compound, and her lap times are comparable only to Captain America. It is possible Skye could fly, but any attempts so far have resulted in minor injuries. Appropriate course of action would be at this point to inform the Avengers allow them to compare their powers to hers, but further action has been denied by Director Coulson.   
Will update as necessary.  
\-----------------------------------  
Skye stood in the hanger with her arms across her chest.  
"I've told you. I can't."  
May was standing next to her, with her hands on her hips.  
"Skye. If you can move the Bus, you'll be the most powerful superhero I've ever encountered. Even Thor couldn't move this plane."  
"Exactly! I'm no Thor. I'll just break something."  
May sighed, exasperated. "But you moved that harrier jet yesterday. It only has to be a few feet."  
Skye stared up at the Bus, which looked a lot bigger now she was standing underneath it.  
"I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't."  
\-----------------------------------  
Jemma was busy in the lab, bustling around doing nothing in particular, when Fitz tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped.  
"Fitz! Don't sneak up on me like that!"  
Fitz didn't look in the least bit sorry as he sat down heavily on a chair in the corner of their shiny new lab.  
"Out with it. What's bothering you?"  
"I don't know what you mean ..."  
Jemma knew what he meant. She'd been out of kilter for days now, and if anyone were to pick up on the change, it was Fitz.  
"Ever since Skye had the operation, you've been holed up in this lab, jumping a mile when anyone speaks to you! Please tell me what’s going on."  
Fitz said, waving his hands about.  
Jemma stayed silent.   
'I have to tell him.' she thought. 'Fitz deserves to know.'  
Fitz sighed and turned away, loading up some drone schematics on his tablet. He looked up when Jemma sat in the chair next to him.  
"I'll tell you, but you have to promise you won't breathe a word to anyone. Ever. Not even to your grandmother."  
"I promise."  
"Well it’s something I've been wondering about for a while now ... but I'm pretty sure. At the academy, I didn't have much time for dating, not much time for friends really, except for you Fitz, and then we got thrown on this bus and we've been on so many adventures - death defying ones at that and it really doesn't give you much time to think, but we've had a slow couple of weeks and I guess I've been thinking and..."  
Jemma could tell she was babbling, and Fitz's confused face confirmed that. Well, it was now or never.  
"Oh to hell with it. Fitz, I'm gay."  
Jemma felt her heart stop when Fitz's face changed from confusion to open mouthed surprise.  
"Oh." was all he could say.  
Jemma's immediate reaction was to turn tail and flee, because this was the first time she'd told anyone and this was clearly not the ideal response. As she stood up, face turning red, she felt Fitz's hand on her wrist.  
"Wait, Jemma..."  
She sat back down.   
She wasn't sure how this was meant to go.  
Fitz didn't seem sure either, if his mouth opening and shutting was anything to go by.  
"That's why you've been acting funny?"  
He said at last. "Did you think I'd mind? I don't, by the way. You're still my best friend ... you always will be." Fitz finished, smiling at her gently. Jemma let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding and squeezed Fitz's hand.   
"Thank you."  
"So, do you like Skye?"  
Jemma coughed, stuttering a response. Had she been that obvious?  
"W-what? No!"  
"Ah, that's too bad. She likes you."  
Jemma had decided she would never ever tell Fitz anything ever again, because she was pretty sure the way her heart was beating wasn't normal.   
"Really?"  
"Yes really. You didn't notice?"  
"Notice what?"  
Fitz rolled his eyes.  
"Jemma, you're my best friend and the smartest person I know, but you are so dense sometimes. She broke things when you laughed! She made a couch fly because you hugged her! I was still on it!"  
"I thought she just couldn't control her power. Are you sure?"  
If Fitz rolled his eyes anymore, Jemma was sure they would fall out of his head.  
"Yes! You were definitely the variable in those situations. She doesn't break anything around me or Tripp."  
Jemma considered the possibility. If Skye liked her too ... it didn't bear thinking about. Her heart had taken enough suspense today.  
"I think I should probably phone my parents. Whilst I'm on a roll ..."  
Fitz grinned and picked his tablet back up again.  
"Don't forget to phone your grandma too."  
Just then, the pair heard the lab doors whoosh open and Skye wondered in, hair wet from the shower, wearing a light blue sundress.  
"Why d'you want to phone your grandma, Jem?"  
Without missing a beat, Fitz replied.  
"She's got to ask about the optician’s appointment."  
Jemma stood up and turned on her heels to face Fitz. "What optician’s appointment?"  
"The one she had yesterday. I told her she was eligible for free glasses - she was over the moon."  
Skye giggled as Jemma glared at her friend.  
"Fitz. You talk to my grandma more than I do! You have your own grandparents! Go bother them or something."  
Fitz didn't look up from his tablet, tapping on the screen to change parts of the specification.  
"You nearly forgot her birthday. I sent her a scarf, and ordered flowers. She also sent me her brownie recipe last week, which I haven't tried out yet."  
"If it's any consolation, I don't have any grandparents. Like at all. So no brownies - ever." Skye spoke, resting her hand on Jemma's arm.  
"I better call then ... make sure I haven't been replaced in the family ... I can't believe this..."  
Jemma mumbled as she left the lab, pulling her phone out of her pocket.  
\-----------------------------------  
"Three thousand, four hundred and thirty two."  
"What?" Skye looked up from her laptop to see Jemma looming over her, clutching a sheet of paper.  
"Three thousand, four hundred and thirty two is the number of brownies you've missed out on from not having grandparents - me and Fitz worked it out. It's only a rough estimate but ..."  
Jemma trailed off and Skye looked at her incredulously. Jemma took a deep breath.  
"I've got my grandma's recipe here. I was wondering if you wanted to make some with me. Reduce the deficit if you will."  
Skye grinned, shutting her laptop lid.  
"I'd love to."  
\-----------------------------------  
"Skye, can you pass me the spatula please?"  
Skye was breaking up the chocolate, and, without looking up, levitated the spatula. Jemma caught it and rolled her eyes.  
"Ever since you could control that power, you've gotten incredibly lazy. It was two feet away from you."  
Skye put on her most innocent expression as she poured the chocolate into a bowl on the hob. She opened her mouth, and a chunk of the chocolate landed on her tongue.  
"I don't know what you mean." She said, grinning.  
\-----------------------------------  
20 minutes and a plate of brownies later, Skye was lying flat out on the sofa, her head on Jemma's lap.  
"I will never eat another brownie again. Ever."  
"You did eat seven."  
"You said I had to eat three thousand, four hundred and thirty two or something..."  
"Not all at once! And it’s three thousand, four hundred and twenty five now."  
Skye felt Jemma's hands in her hair, gently moving the strands back from her forehead. Skye hummed and was very grateful for the increased control over her power. The moment was ruined when Fitz and Trip came bursting through the doors, laughing and cheering.   
Skye sat up so fast she made herself dizzy and both girls turned bright red. The boys didn't seem to notice as Tripp clapped Fitz so hard on the back he nearly fell over.  
"I passed! I passed my field assessment!" Fitz said excitedly. Skye stood up and enveloped him on a hug, whilst Jemma patted him on the back.  
"Well done!"  
"I knew you could." said Jemma proudly.  
"It means we're all cleared for the field now." said Coulson, who'd just walked in with May.  
"We have to celebrate." said Skye, looking excited. "Meet you all on the roof in an hour - I've got an idea."  
An hour later, the team were all sat on the roof, surrounded by blankets and pillows. Jemma had made two more batches of brownies and Tripp had surprised everyone by baking a plate of mint chocolate chip cookies.  
"Right." grinned Skye, standing up. "Here's where the show begins. No one distract me, or this could go horribly wrong."  
Skye closed her eyes and the team heard a whizzing noise overhead. The firework exploded in a shower of green and yellow. Fitz gasped and Jemma clapped. "That's brilliant, Skye!"  
The fireworks continued, getting more and more extravagant until the finale, a huge monkey with the words 'well done!' underneath. Soon the whole team were lying down, looking up at the stars. "Where did you learn to do all that?" asked Tripp.  
"I'm a really fast learner. That and an hour’s worth of best ever fireworks on YouTube."  
The team kept talking until the sky faded from inky blue to black, and the stars shone brightly.  
\-----------------------------------  
"Jem ... are you awake?"  
Skye sat up and looked around. Everyone else had drifted off. Coulson was curled up with his head on his Captain America pillow, May was flat out on her back with one arm draped over Coulson’s middle. Tripp was stretched out with his back to May, and Fitz was using his legs as a pillow. Jemma was fiddling with the edge of Fitz's blanket, and she sat up and Skye's words, rubbing her eyes.  
"Yeah, I'm awake. Do you think we should wake the others?" she whispered, scooting next to Skye.  
"Nah, they'll be alright."  
Skye looped her arm through Jemma's, and Jemma put her head on her friends shoulder.  
"We should do this more often."  
Skye didn't reply, just hummed in agreement.  
They were silent for a minute more, just looking out at the vast expanse of forest under the glittering night sky.  
"Listen, Jem, I ..."  
Before Skye could finish, Jemma gasped. Skye felt her fingertips get hot and realised it was too late. Turning around slowly, she saw the words 'Will you go out with me?' written in golden cursive in the sky above her head.  
"Shit." Skye jumped up, waving her hands through the words, dissipating them. "It wasn't meant to..."  
Skye turned around to find Jemma already there. Jemma leant in and kissed her gently.  
"Is that a yes?" Skye asked, grinning.  
Jemma rolled her eyes and kissed Skye again, placing her hands on her hips to bring them closer together. Skye cupped Jemma's cheek in her hand and she was pretty sure this was the happiest she'd ever been ever.  
Suddenly, a huge crash shook the building and the team woke with a start to see Jemma and Skye blushing furiously. May gave one of her rare smiles, looking like the cat that got the cream.   
"You crashed the bloody plane!" cried Fitz, peering down over the edge of the building. Jemma took Skye's hand and led her over to the edge and they gasped. The plane, which had been parked outside the hanger doors, was now firmly wedged in them, the doors bent and warped by the nose of the plane. Tripp whistled in awe and Coulson looked like he was about to have an aneurysm.   
"Oops." said Skye, looking sheepish.  
\-----------------------------------  
"She needs a surge of emotions. That’s why she moved the plane in the first place." said May, as if it were obvious.  
Coulson, May, Fitz and Tripp were standing on the grass a little way from the plane, looking up at Skye who was sat on the wing.  
"I'll throw Fitz. She'd move it then." Tripp grasped Fitz's arm, but he jerked away quickly.  
"You will not! I like my feet firmly on the ground, thank you very much."  
"Why can't she just concentrate? She moved it pretty easily last night." huffed Coulson. "Is Jemma back with the serum yet?"  
"I told you, it's connected to her emotions, not her concentration."  
"That's it, I'm throwing Fitz."  
Tripp threw Fitz over his shoulder, who proceeded to hit him on the back and yell "You will not!" in a shrill voice.  
"Hey guys, I bought it." Jemma appeared behind them and the team all turned around, looking at her. Fitz peered at her through the underside of Tripp's arm.  
"Did I miss anything?" She asked brightly.  
\-----------------------------------  
"This is a stupid idea." grumbled Skye, standing on the wing with her arm around Jemma's waist (so she wouldn't fall over and for no other reason.)  
"It might work... besides, I just wanted another excuse to kiss you."  
Jemma smiled and Skye blushed.  
Skye leaned in and the plane started to move slowly below her.   
It was then, with one arm round her (almost) girlfriend, the other arm thrown out to control the plane's slow crawl out of the wreckage of the doors, for the first time, Skye really felt like a superhero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right so my keyboard on my laptop is broken so I'll be a lot slower for the last chapter sorry :(  
> Feedback always appreciated so thank you for reading! :3


	3. Smoke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye is captured and an old enemy returns, can our favourite ass kicking girlfriends face it out together? Find out in the last chapter of Superpowered!

"We've got something Jem - we found her."  
Jemma looked up from her tissue sample, her heart fluttering.  
"What? Where is she?"  
"There’s a trace of her energy signature in a base underneath the Alps. Tripp and May are putting an extraction plan together. We'll go in at dawn." Fitz grinned and Jemma allowed herself a small smile.  
"I hope she's okay." She said quietly.  
"Well, from the signature we know she's alive." Fitz didn't need to say what he was thinking, because Jemma had been thinking it over and over for the past few days. Skye had been missing for three weeks, 4 days and 16 hours, which was enough for Jemma to entertain ideas that she'd never see her girlfriend again.   
"She's alive. That's something." Jemma said, more to herself than to her friend. Alive was good. She could work with anything else.  
"You better get some sleep. I'll wake you before it's time to go. We'll get her back, don't worry."  
\-----------------------------------  
"Jemma, I'm just popping to town to get a new memory card, d'you want anything?"   
Skye's voice floated through to the kitchen and Jemma looked up from her sandwich.  
"Can you see if they've got any batteries? Fitz accidently put ours in the microwave."  
"Yeah, sure."  
Skye appeared next to her, giving Jemma a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing her bag off the counter and leaving.

Now, if Jemma had the amazing power of time travel, this is when she'd act. She'd go back, and wrap her arms around Skye, tell her not to go. Tell her they hadn't discovered the tracking device on the bottom of her car. Tell her that if she went, she wouldn't come back.

Jemma sat up, breathing heavily. It was dark outside, pale moonlight illuminating her trembling hands. She hadn't slept properly since Skye's disappearance. Her bed felt cold and slightly lop sided. The alarm read 3:10 am, so Jemma hauled herself out of bed and started to get ready. It was dawn in one hour; one hour until they could get to Skye. Jemma started to count down the minutes.  
\-----------------------------------  
Coulson motioned for them to move forwards. The energy signature had come from a huge castle, which formed part of the mountain like it had grown there. The stone was pale and worn, with high arched windows carved into the sides, and a black slate roof blotting the pale sky of dawn.   
"By my calculations, she's being held in some sort of basement. The place seems all clear otherwise - no heat signatures." Fitz whispered to the team.   
"They knew we were coming. They'll have left us some presents, so keep your eyes open, okay?" Coulson said quietly, and the team crept cautiously through the gorse at the bottom of the mountain.   
Jemma felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Tripp, smiling gently.  
"We'll find her, don't worry. She'll be fine."  
Jemma was about to reply when a huge explosion blew all of the windows from the castle.  
"C'mon, we haven't got much time!" yelled Coulson over the din and the team set off at a run towards the imposing building.  
\-----------------------------------  
It was quiet.  
Too quiet.  
Jemma pushed the door gently and it swung open, to reveal a chard hall, stripped of furniture, with a large smashed chandelier in the middle of the floor. The mountain of crystal and glass was covered in a thin layer of dust, as was everything else in the cold hall.  
"It's deserted." said Fitz quietly.  
"Don't count on it. Where's Skye?" said May, looking around warily.  
"Umm... basement. Along this corridor, down some stairs..."  
As they followed Fitz's directions, Jemma noticed that all the corridors were pockmarked with damage, as if someone had taken a flamethrower to the walls. The portraits had had the same treatment, but with mainly the eyes and faces burnt off. Jemma shuddered. What sort of monsters lived here? Tripp had noticed too, and he held onto his gun a little tighter.  
At the end of the corridor there was a set of winding stairs, with an arrow burnt into the wall. The team descended cautiously. Another explosion, coming from the other side of the castle, rocked the foundations and Jemma started to run. At the bottom, the corridor split and Coulson gestured for the team to split up too.  
Jemma ran down the corridor on the left, peaking in each of the rooms until she reached the one at the end. There was a note on the door, written in what looked like blood.  
"She's all yours - good luck."  
"She’s here!" yelled Jemma before pushing at the door. It swung open and Jemma gasped. 

Skye was sat in the middle of the floor, her hair matted and dirty, her eyes cold and unseeing. Over her mouth and cheeks was a leather muzzle, with vials of amber liquid in, with the same design as a centipede soldier's arm. Skye was also wearing large grey shirt and her battered red converse. Jemma dropped to her side as the rest of the team appeared in the doorway.  
"Oh my ... " whispered Coulson.  
"Skye? Skye, darling, you're alright now; we've come to take you home." Jemma said quietly, before turning back to the team. "I'm not sure we can get this thing off of her until I'm back in the lab..."  
Another explosion shook through the building and Skye flinched.  
"There's not enough time. Let’s move!" yelled Coulson and Tripp moved forward and picked Skye up gently. She made no move to stop him, instead only shut her eyes tight. They set off at a run along the corridor.  
Soon they were running though the main entrance, careful to avoid any broken glass.  
"Heat sensors are detecting something big - I think the whole mountain's going to come down!" cried Fitz in-between breaths. They careered out of the doors and skidded down the small trail.   
"Get down!" shouted May as the castle shook and collapsed in a cloud of dust and rubble. Small stones and glass peppered the team, and when Jemma removed her hands from her head, she saw Tripp had been covering Skye. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked back up at the mountain.  
The castle was completely gone, save for a few teetering piles of stone.   
"We made it." gasped Fitz, lying on his back, looking up at the dust still billowing in the air.   
Jemma hummed in agreement - they'd made it, but no one felt like celebrating. Not when Skye still had her eyes tight shut and her hands balled into fists.  
\-----------------------------------  
"Why would they destroy an entire castle to cover their tracks? It seems very heavy duty." said Fitz as they waited for the cargo bay doors to lower.  
"I'm not sure - but I did find this on the door of the cell. Can you test it?" Jemma pulled the note out of her pocket and Fitz recoiled as he read it.   
"Uh, Jemma?" The ramp had lowered completely and Tripp looked at Jemma expectantly.  
"Oh, okay, um ... take her to the lab. I'll need to find a way to deactivate the serum there."   
Tripp nodded as Jemma moved off to the side, quickly pulling on her lab coat and washing her hands. When she got back, everyone (except May, who was in the cockpit) was gathered around the hototable, not speaking. Skye was sat in a chair, looking at her hands as they clenched and unclenched.  
"Right, everyone out. Even you, Fitz." Jemma said firmly, and the team filed out of the lab. Coulson gave Jemma a pointed look and Jemma nodded slightly. She knew what he was trying to say. Jemma grabbed her medical bag and moved to crouch on the floor next to Skye.  
"Skye? Skye, can you look at me please?" Skye snapped to attention and held Jemma's gaze. "Your pupils aren't any different, good, so no sedatives, can you follow my finger?" Skye did as she was instructed, and when she had ascertained that Skye's senses were all intact, she started to rummage through her bag, pulling out a scalpel.   
"Skye, I'm going to cut the part around your mouth off, then you can speak to me, is that okay?" Skye nodded slowly, but still flinched when Jemma held it up.  
"It's alright, don't worry ... I've really missed you. I'm glad you’re okay." Jemma spoke softly and used her free hand to stroke the top of Skye's head, whilst the other hand made incisions in the leather. When she was finished, Jemma pulled the piece out and was disgusted to find there had been some fabric stuffed in her mouth too. Skye gasped, taking her first proper breath in days. "Jem." she croaked and Jemma smiled, quickly running to the sink to bring back a small glass of water. After a moment, she also pulled a straw out from the cupboard next to the sink. She held the glass to Skye's lips and she drank eagerly.  
"Hey, hey, small sips. When was the last time you drunk anything?"  
Skye licked her lips before replying.  
"A few weeks? They fed me through an IV drip." She said, then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "Jemma."  
"That's horrible. I'm so glad your okay - the rest of the team are looking to see if we can catch whoever did this to you. I ... I love you." Jemma's words hung in the air like smoke as Skye looked up, almost horrified. "I ... I mean, I didn't tell you before you left and ..." Jemma trailed off and felt her stomach sink as she realised Skye wasn't going to say it back. That was stupid, though Jemma, stupid and selfish. She composed herself quickly and rummaged in her bag for a syringe.  
"I'm just going to take a sample of the liquid, create an antidote... It shouldn't take too long..."  
Skye nodded and curled up in the little chair. It wouldn't hurt to have a quick nap.  
\-----------------------------------  
"You bastards, let me go!"  
Skye had been fighting ever since someone threw a bag over her head and tied her hands together with cord. She couldn't use her powers though, as without sight, she'd more likely injure herself than her captors. After what seemed like an age, of being shuffled around, on and off planes, in and out of cars, they'd finally reached their destination.  
The bag was pulled off her head and Skye cringed at the sudden change in light, despite the fact the room was shadowy, the curtains drawn. As her eyes adjusted, she saw she was in some kind of great hall, with a long table in the centre. At the end of the table was a creature, something out of a nightmare which made Skye recoil. It had pale blue skin and six large eyes like a spider, all blinking and glowing a pale yellow. The creature had long brown hair and large pointed ears, and even though it was sitting down, Skye guessed it was probably over 10 feet tall when stood up.  
"Sit her down over there." commanded the creature, showing two rows of jagged teeth.  
Now Skye could see, she tried to use her power but instead of the familiar rush of energy, she only felt nausea. Crap. She hadn't had any of her medication for days; it was a miracle she hadn't passed out yet.  
"What the hell is this place? And who the hell are you?" Skye said, as she was pushed roughly into a chair.  
The creature laughed, and the sound rolled around the chamber. The two human lackeys who'd brought Skye in sniggered too.  
"That’s no way to speak to me, little one. Try again." He said, and Skye detested the mocking tone in his voice.   
"I said, where the fuck am I? And what kind of fucked up monster are you?"  
The creature stopped laughing and slammed his hands down on the table. A ripple of dark energy rolled along the table and formed a clawed hand, gripping Skye's throat, squeezing, forcing tears from her eyes.  
"How dare you speak to me in that way? I am your father, and you will address me as such! Is that clear?"  
The pain was unbearable. Skye gasped and nodded. The grip loosened slightly.  
"Apologise."  
"I'm sorry." whispered Skye, still fighting for breath.  
"Use my name, you impertinent child!"  
"I'm sorry Father!" Skye cried out, the sound echoing in the dusty hall. The energy dissipated and Skye's head fell on the table as she gasped like a fish out of water.  
"Good, don't forget that. Take her to her room - she can join us for dinner later." The creature dismissed them with a wave of his hand, and Skye was dragged out of the chamber, still reeling.  
\-----------------------------------  
Skye woke up with a jolt, sitting up and looking wildly around her. Jemma was on the other side of the lab, filling a syringe with medication. She was at her side in an instant.  
"It's alright, Skye, it was just a dream. You're safe now."  
Skye nodded and took a few shuddering breaths.  
"I realise you haven't had your medication... this is only a quarter dose though, I think we should ease you back in."   
Skye lifted her shirt and peeled back the plaster. Jemma handed her the syringe but Skye was shaking so badly she couldn't insert it correctly.  
"I'm not sure ... can you ...?" asked Skye tentatively.   
"Of course." Jemma took the syringe and administered the medication with ease. She could feel Skye shaking.  
"They... they gave me medication, but it wasn't the right sort, I kept passing out and being sick." Skye whispered, as Jemma cleaned the small tap and replaced the plaster.   
"You're safe now, don't worry. I'll give you another dose later, but for now I think it's best if you sleep. I need to run a scan on your... on the way they administered the medication." Jemma swallowed, gently running her thumb along the jagged edges of the muzzle on Skye's cheeks.  
Skye nodded. "Thank you, Jemma." she said quickly, almost on reflex.  
"C'mon, let’s go up to the medipod. I made sure Fitz got everything for you."  
Jemma stood up and was surprised when Skye threaded their hands together, but she didn't say anything. Skye would talk in her own time.  
\-----------------------------------  
Skye heaved, spraying the contents of her dinner on the corner of the cell. She wiped her mouth and scrambled for the small glass of water which had been left for her. The cell was basic, with a straw mattress on one side and a silver basin with a toilet next to it. Skye hadn't made it that far before throwing up again, spitting bile onto the floor. She shuddered. Her father had given her some medicine, but it wasn't the right type and Skye wished Jemma was there to hold her hair and rub circles on her back. She wished Jemma was there anyway. The team would rescue her, wouldn't they? She knew if it were Jemma, she wouldn't rest until she was found.   
\-----------------------------------  
Jemma gasped, holding up the paper to the light. It couldn't be. She looked at Skye through the glass partition. She looked like death, her skin pale, illuminating the dark circles under her eyes.   
"How is she?" Jemma turned quickly and saw Coulson in the doorway, looking worried.  
"Oh, she's ... well, I'm not sure, sir. Physically, she should be right as rain in a few days, once she's got the poison that’s inhibiting her powers out of her system."  
Coulson raised his eyebrows and Jemma sighed. She knew that wasn't the question he'd asked.  
"She keeps saying my name, sir. After I do anything, she thanks me and uses my name; it's almost as if she does it on reflex. She's also afraid to ask for things. I don't know ..." Jemma trailed off and Coulson looked sick.   
"Fitz is analysing the blood on the note. We'll know who did this soon. What does the scan show?"  
Jemma took a deep breath and turned back to Skye.  
"Needles. There are hundreds of needles in that mask, delivering the medication directly to her bloodstream. I'll need to remove the cover, and then remove the needles one at a time."  
"That’s sick." came a voice from the back of the room. The rest of the team had come in to see Skye, and Tripp was looking particularly disgusted. "That's sick and disgusting, who would do something like that?"   
\-----------------------------------  
Skye didn't know how long she'd been in the cell as they dragged her through the corridors. She had no daylight, no measure of time, only the three glasses of water they pushed in a day and the doctor with the gas mask on who came in when she was asleep to administer medication. Skye saw his face in her dreams, heard his ragged breathing as his rough hands probed her stomach.   
Skye could see flashes of sunlight through the windows as the two guards pulled her up the stairs. She was thrown roughly on a chair, next to her father. She recoiled at the word. This man was a monster. He wasn't what Skye had been looking for her whole life. This was what she'd been running away from.  
"Hello, Skye, nice of you to join us. What would you like for lunch?”  
Skye kept her mouth shut. She knew better than to ask for things.  
"Well, I'm having pasta. Marcus? Get Skye a bowl." The creature grinned and rubbed his giant clawed hands together.   
A steaming bowl was placed in front of her, but Skye's hands were still bound. Skye gagged, a wave of nausea rushing through her, and she considered throwing up on the pasta, and then thought better of it.   
"It is delicious, isn't it? It's been years since we had a nice family dinner." The creature laughed before picking up the bowl and swallowing the contents in one go.   
"Yes, Father." she said through gritted teeth.  
"Aren't you hungry, little one?"  
"No, Father."  
"Shame." The creature shot out his hand and black energy flowed across the table, picking up the bowl and flinging it across the room. Skye almost cried.  
"I thought I'd tell you about when you were a baby, little one. About your mother." The creature smiled when he realised he had her attention.  
"I am Eruo, destroyer if stars, before was banished from my home planet 25 years ago, so I came here and disguised myself in human form. I chose a name, lived normally - then I met her, your mother. She was working as a waitress in a bar, and she had the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. On any realm, even this stinking hell hole you call a planet. I knew she had the cor auro (heart of gold, Skye's addled brain supplied) to be my wife, and three months later we were married. Then six months after that, you were born."  
"What's my name?" Skye blurted out. "The name you gave me, what is it?"  
The creature smiled, baring his teeth.  
"We called you Stella (star, Skye thought.) So I guess your new name isn't all that different, little caelum."  
The creature stared into the distance, deep in thought, before throwing his empty bowl out of the window and picking Skye up in one fluid motion.  
"Then she died! The light of my life, my cor auro died! You caused it!" Skye screamed, dangling 10 feet in the air with her legs flailing beneath her. The creature let go suddenly, catching Skye just before she hit the ground.  
"They took you away after that. The men in suits. I burnt a village to find you, my little caelum. All their blood is on your hands." Skye squeezed her eyes shut but she could feel the blood dripping over her hands. "They took your sister too. Your mother had a child from another relationship, a little girl, a little pluviae."   
"Raina?" gasped Skye. She hadn't expected that. "Raina's my half-sister?"  
"You do understand your mother tongue! I was worried you'd forgotten. Yes, little Raina. She helped me find you, and now she has gone too."  
Skye realised then that he'd been slipping between languages, yet she'd understood every word.   
"I have been looking for you for 24 years, little caelum. And now you are here. We can be a family again." The creature ran a claw along her cheekbone and Skye shuddered involuntarily. He seemed to have forgotten the part where she was half starved and bound to a chair.  
"Will you join me, little caelum? Be at my side? We have a power strong enough to crush this tiny world. Join me, and we can be a family again."  
Skye looked up into her father’s eyes. "Fuck off." she said with a snarl.   
The creature roared, slamming his hands down on the table and splintering it in two.   
Two guards tipped Skye's chair and dragged her out of the room. "If you will not join me, you will suffer a fate worse than death!" He screamed, the noise reverberating around the corridor and Skye was dragged away.   
\-----------------------------------  
Jemma sat on a stool in the brightly lit room, humming to herself as she used tweezers to gently pluck the needles from Skye's cheeks. She'd mixed a sedative into Skye's medication and she was out like a light. Jemma dabbed the small pinprick with a cotton ball, the small mark disappearing instantly. Skye whimpered slightly, and Jemma reached up with her free hand to stroke her hair. She fell silent as Jemma pulled out the last needle and dotted on a medicine so it wouldn't scar. Skye already had enough scars.  
Suddenly, there was a knock at the window and Jemma stood up to see Fitz on the other side, looking pale. She snapped her gloves off and threw them in the bin before opening to door and stepping out.  
"What is it, Fitz?"  
"I've finished analysing the note. Look." He held up a piece of paper which was covered in numbers and code, and at the bottom, one name.  
"Ward?!"  
Jemma felt like she was going to be sick. This couldn't be happening.  
"How could he do that to her, Jem? He was meant to be our friend." said Fitz quietly.  
"I don't know... did you show this to Coulson?"  
"Not yet. I'll need your help to explain these numbers though."  
"I can't leave her, Fitz. What if she wakes up?" said Jemma, glancing back at Skye's prone figure through the door.  
"We've got cameras in here, and you've got her vitals on your tablet. We can monitor her from the control room. C'mon."  
Jemma bit her lip, but followed Fitz reluctantly.  
\-----------------------------------  
"So you're saying he just disappeared, just like that! From the highest security prison in the world, and he just vanished!"   
They'd watched the security footage from the cell over and over, and Jemma was fuming. The video was grainy, but it clearly showed Ward being in the middle of his cell, then a flash of bright light, then he was gone. Unfortunately, the timestamp on the video was over a month ago.  
"For a whole month, he wasn't there! Why didn't anyone notice? He wasn't eating or drinking anything!"  
"Well, Jem, they did mess with the video, putting him on a loop..." Fitz said quietly.  
"And? This is supposed to be SHIELD's most secure facility and yet someone broke him out a month ago!"  
"Simmons, I know you're angry, but this isn't ..."  
Jemma interrupted Coulson by turning at glaring at him.   
"We knew, if he ever got out, he'd go after Skye first. And he did, and now she's lying downstairs hooked up to an IV because her blood is coursing with poison, and you're telling me this isn't the best time to be angry?"  
Jemma's breathing was shallow and her fists were clenched, with Coulson looking quite taken aback by the outburst.  
"I'm sorry, sir. I have to go." Jemma escaped quickly, back down to the medipod.  
"She'll be alright. She's just worried, is all." Fitz said quickly and the rest of the team nodded.  
"She did have a point though. Ward didn't escape, someone broke him out." said Tripp, rewinding the tape to the point where a large ball of energy filled the room, engulfing Ward with the light.  
"But how would anyone know where he was? I did the paperwork myself, he was untraceable." May brought up a series of documents, all redacted.  
"There must still be Hydra agents within the system. Let’s flush them out." Coulson said with a grimace.  
\-----------------------------------  
Skye lay in her bed, her back to the wall. They'd stopped feeding her proper meals and she was being kept alive by the drip in her arm.  
She felt like death. She had lost track of all time, hours dragging by with only the sound of her shallow breathing and the incessant drip drip drip of the IV.   
The door opened and Skye sat up quickly, making herself dizzy.  
"Whoa, easy there, I've got you." The dark figure stepped into the room, steading Skye with both his hands. She blinked slowly.  
"Ward?" She gasped, edging away from him. "What the hell are you doing here?"  
"Your father brought me here. I want to be with you." He said with a smirk.  
Skye almost gagged.  
"Well you can fuck right off, I ..."   
The rest of her biting comeback was ruined when she started to cough harshly. When she pulled her hand away, she was sure she could feel blood on her lips.  
"I'm here because you need me. Your father wants to drain you of your power, but I could help. We could escape from here, together, as it should be." Ward stroked her arm gently and Skye jerked away.  
"You lost any right to a 'together' when you threw my best friends into the sea! I don't fucking love you, Ward. Hell, I don't even like you! I've moved on, and I've got a team of people who actually care about me looking for me right now. I’m dating Jemma now, so you can take your fucked up notion that I'll be your girlfriend, and you can shove it up your whiny ass."  
Wow, that felt good, thought Skye with a smile. When Ward's hand connected with her cheek, it felt less good.  
"You'll be sorry you ever said that." He said, his voice trembling with anger. Skye cradled her cheek and winced.  
"Commence phase 3" Ward said, almost clinically. A group of scientists trooped into the cell, and he could hear her screams as he walked along the corridor, as they inserted the mask and the needles which pumped the poison directly into her veins, and the magic directly out.  
\-----------------------------------  
Skye jerked awake, bringing her hands up to her cheeks. There was nothing there. She sighed with relief. Jemma had done it.   
She lay back on the bed, and she could feel some of the energy returning to her fingertips. Skye clicked her fingers, but there was only a pathetic gasp of energy, barely enough to see let alone fight with.   
Jemma walked in, humming to herself, doing a little double take when she saw Skye was awake.  
"Oh! You're back! Well, I bought your medication, and I also fixed the antidote so it'll actively flush the inhibitor from your systems. Do you want to do it or shall I?"   
"I'll do it. Thank you." said Skye, taking the syringe from her girlfriend and hitching up her shirt to insert it.  
"No problem. May says we'll be landing back at the playground in an hour, so I bought you some clean clothes and there's some soup downstairs too, if you want that."  
"I think I'll have a shower first. Thank you, Jem."  
Jemma looked surprised at the use of her nickname, and was even more surprised when Skye pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. She was embarrassed that she blushed and did a small double take, which made Skye smile.  
\-----------------------------------  
When they landed at the playground, it was quiet.   
Too quiet.  
"I thought we'd have someone to meet us here, a team to help or something." grumbled Jemma, setting her bags down in the living room.  
"Maybe they're just late, or ..." Fitz was cut off when all hell broke loose.  
Around twenty guards all dressed in tight black suits and gas masks appeared, from doorways, ceiling tiles and windows. May unsheathed her gun and took four down before a barrage of agents was on top of her, holding her down.  
"Get her out of here!" yelled Coulson as he drove the heel of his hand into the nearest guard’s neck, snapping it back.  
Jemma grabbed Skye's hand and they ran towards the exit, but their path was blocked by more agents.   
Tripp appeared behind them, firing the nigh night gun left right and centre. Fitz was desperately trying to free himself from the headlock a guard had him in.  
Skye whimpered and Jemma pulled a night night gun from her bag and shot two guards in the chest. "C'mon!" She yelled and they were almost at the end of the corridor when a pale yellow gas filled the room.   
Jemma shot Skye a panicked glance before falling to the ground, legs buckling underneath her.  
Skye screamed, before her own legs gave way and she crashed to the floor.  
The last thing she saw before her brain gave up the ghost was a large black bag being placed over her head.  
\-----------------------------------  
Ward surveyed the wreckage, the remnants of his former team lying motionless on the floor. A guard on the other side of the room raised his thumbs and slowly, the rest of the guards took off their gas masks, Ward last of all.  
"Sir, all six targets acquired. What shall we do with them?"   
Ward let out a rare smile and nodded.  
"Take May, Ward, Tripp and Fitz to the base in Los Angeles, I'll deal with them there. Simmons was requested to be transferred to Eruo; I can't remember why, just make sure she gets there safely."  
"What about that one, sir?"  
The guard pointed to Skye's prone figure, a black cloth bag slung carelessly over her head.  
"Take her out of the way; put her in the desert or something. She's useless now." He said with a sneer.  
\-----------------------------------  
Skye blinked slowly.  
There was something over her head, which she pulled off quickly.  
The outside was blindingly bright, and it took Skye a full minute to adjust.  
She was in the desert.  
Miles upon miles of golden sand under a shimmering blue sky. Skye was by the side of a road, leaning against a sign which proudly said -  
'Welcome to Nevada  
Route 15  
Drive safe!'  
Skye groaned.  
She was miles away from anywhere, but more importantly she was miles away from Jemma and the rest of the team.  
He must've taken them, she thought quickly. He'd want them to be there when he revealed his plans.  
\-----------------------------------  
"So you're sure this will work? I'll gain her power?"  
Ward fiddled with the wires connected to his wrists. The wires were connected to a gas canister full off a pale golden light.   
"Don't worry, little pupilli, it'll work. It won't be the same, but it'll work." The creature smiled with his fangs, before settling himself on the other side of the room.  
"Commence phase 4." He said, and the guards released the taps on the canisters. Ward screamed, the energy making his veins bulge and his eyes fill with an inky blackness. He gasped, his chest arching, before he collapsed back onto the bed, his eyes fading back to their regular dark brown.   
Ward raised his arms, flexing experimentally, before throwing his hands back and flinging a ball of searing black energy at the nearest guard. A huge hole appeared in his chest, burnt and frayed at the edges, before the guard collapsed, almost surprised in the manner of his death.  
"Oh bravo. Well done."  
The creature clapped excitedly, before slowly rising from his seat. Ward pulled out the wires, flicking his fingers in an attempt to cultivate the dark energy which was brewing there.  
"Go show the little caelum your new power. Make her afraid." said the creature with malice, and Ward was more than happy to oblige.  
\-----------------------------------  
Skye stood up on shaky legs, before kicking the sign repeatedly.  
"Why can't I have anything nice?" She shouted at no one in particular.  
"She was the one good thing I could call my own and now she's been taken! And I can't save her! Because of all my infinite and improbable powers, I can't. Fucking. Fly!" Each word was punctuated by a kick to the sign until Skye slumped down, with her back against the pole.  
"I can't fly, and I can't save her. I should be there to save her. Please, I'll give anything!"  
She was silent for a minute, and then added in a whisper.  
"I can't imagine life without her, without any of them. And I can't just move on or move away, because I've found a family, and I'd really like to keep this one."  
Suddenly, there was a familar rush of energy, radiating from her chest and spreading along her back, from her limbs to the tips of her fingers and toes. Skye felt herself floating, and soon she was clinging onto the top of the sign to stop herself floating away. She laughed, letting go gingerly and enjoying the feeling of utter weightlessness.   
Skye pointed her toes and pressed her arms flat to her side, flying in the direction of the nearest city.   
(She hoped anyway, geography had never been her best subject, and her current compass of 'following her heart' couldn't be considered reliable.)  
\-----------------------------------  
"May? Fitz? Simmons? Anyone there? Skye? Tripp?"  
Coulson whispered in the darkness, trying to untie the cord around his wrists.  
"I'm here." Fitz said quietly.   
"I am, but I've no idea where here actually is." agreed May.  
"Wait, where's Jemma? And Skye? Tripp?" Fitz was beginning to panic so Coulson reached out and patted his arm (or what he hoped was his arm, in the darkness he wasn't sure.)  
"We'll go rescue them too, promise. Ward is probably holding them somewhere else."  
"He knows if he wants to get to Skye, he can use Jemma." said May angrily.  
"How will we rescue them, if we're stuck in here? Also ... wait, you touched my arm, how did you do that?" Fitz asked, and Coulson smiled his small half smile.  
"I untied myself, not five minutes ago. May?"  
"Nearly...there." She grunted, and the team heard a sickening crunch, the sound of rope falling, and another crunch. Fitz gagged.   
"That's impressive, but can someone else please untie me? I'm pretty sure I have neither the stomach nor the wrist muscles to do ... that."   
Coulson chuckled and heard May as she moved around, looking for the door. Soon, Fitz was untied and May was about to break down the door.  
"Right, this place should be crawling with guards, so Fitz, stay behind us and keep out of trouble." Coulson said, before May kicked down the door and they tumbled out into the corridor. An empty corridor.  
Suddenly, they heard footsteps and May adopted a fighting stance, but it was only Tripp. He was running, carrying two guns, one in each hand, with a huge grin on his face.   
"Glad I found you guys! Ward was going to have me killed, but I wasn't having any of that, so I've been running around, looking for you all. Where are Skye and Simmons?"  
"Not with us." Coulson said quickly, taking one of Tripp's guns and clicking the safety off. "Let’s go then."  
"It's good to see you guys alive." Tripp said happily and clapped Fitz so hard on the back he nearly fell over.   
"Yeah, good to see you too." said Fitz, grinning and trying to subtly rub his back.  
Then, an explosion rocked the building and the team ran to the window at the end of the corridor, looking out to see a flash of golden energy streak across the sky.  
"Looks like we found Skye. But what's she fighting?"  
Tripp's question was answered when a huge explosion ripped the sky in two to reveal a dark purple expanse of stars beyond. Swarms of dark shapes flew through the crack and Fitz gasped.  
"Oh look, a portal to another dimension." sighed Coulson. "How original."   
"I wonder what sort of aliens it is this time - the last lot were just so loud. I had to wear headphones for a week after the Rio incident." said May, rubbing the window with her sleeve to try and get a clearer view.  
"The Rio incident? I thought there hadn't been any more aliens since New York?" asked Fitz.  
"No more that you've heard about." smirked May.  
"Team! Focus. So, we're missing Simmons, Skye is fighting an alien invasion and Ward has escaped and is probably looking for us. May and I will go find and rescue Simmons, if you two go help Skye." said Coulson.  
"But what about Ward? And we don't have any weapons?" Fitz was looking out of the window at the smudges pouring out of the portal.  
"I'm sure Ward will show up somewhere, but right now he's the least of our problems." said May, rolling her eyes.   
"Also, I'm think we're in Los Angeles, and SHIELD has a weapons lock up not three blocks away. We can really bring out the big guns." grinned Tripp, turning suddenly as more footsteps echoed through the corridor.  
"Right, let’s do this." said Coulson, but May was already off down the corridor.  
\-----------------------------------  
Skye shot out a beam of energy before diving behind an upturned car. The streets were filled with people, some screaming, others capturing the moment on their phones. Skye had known this was coming. Her father had decided, if she wouldn't join him, he'd destroy her world by opening up a portal between his world and hers. This would let swarm after swarm of his guards, with Ward as their figure head. Aliens, 1 - Earth, 0  
Skye peeked over the car, to see Fitz and Tripp running towards her, carrying huge weapons. She gave them a small wave. Soon, all three of them were behind the car.  
"Oh thank god you're alive. Where are the others? Where's Jemma?"  
"May and Coulson have gone to rescue her. We're here to help you deal with the aliens. Any idea what they are?" Tripp said breathlessly.  
"They're my kin. My father led them here - he's the one who captured me." Both boys gasped.  
"But you're..." gasped Fitz, but Tripp cut him off.  
"Never mind, how do we protect the people from them?"  
"Aim for the neck and chest. If you see a huge, blue alien with loads of eyes who speaks a different language don't engage him. He's my father and his powers are like ten times greater than mine, so don't even go near, okay?"  
Tripp nodded, Fitz looked a little dazed but nodded too.  
"Right, I'll charge you up. Give your guns unlimited power. I've got to go get Ward." Skye wrapped her hands around the barrels of their guns and soon they were filled with golden light.  
"Let's go. Good luck!" Yelled Tripp as he leapt over the top if the car, Fitz scrambling after him, muttering curses.  
\-----------------------------------  
"But why you?"   
Jemma blinked slowly, coming round with a groan. She appeared to be tied to a chair, and a hulking figure stood above her.  
"I mean, she could have anyone, but she went for you. You don't have any powers, you're rather puny, and she can't even have babies with you. What's the point?" He sighed.  
"Who are you? Who are you talking about?" asked Jemma tentatively.  
"I'm Skye's father. I'm the one who took her, and you're the one who took her back."  
Jemma gasped. She suddenly had a fleeting thought of 'what the hell are the kids going to look like??' before her thoughts were interrupted by the door being blown down.  
The creature turned around in surprise before being hit on the head with a large pipe, wielded by Coulson.  
"Too much talking." muttered May as she untied Jemma and dragged her out of the room. Coulson plunged the pipe into one of the creature's eyes, making him scream, before running to join them.   
"Right, Jemma, you have to go find Skye. If she thinks you're dead, she'll stop fighting. Coulson and I will work on closing the portal. Good luck." May said as soon as they were out of the building.   
"Portal? What portal? Oh, that portal. I see now." Jemma said absent mindedly, before running through the packed square, trying to catch sight of her girlfriend.  
\-----------------------------------  
"I really don't like this!" shouted Fitz as he slammed the butt of his gun into an alien's neck, forcing him to the ground.  
"You're doing great! Cover me whilst I get this bus open!" Tripp was already at the bus doors, pulling them open and directing the flow of screaming people towards a nearby alleyway. Fitz raised the gun to his shoulder and fired, closing his eyes at the sound. Surprisingly, when he opened them, he'd hit a few.  
"Actually, this is a bit thrilling!" he said, grinning.  
Tripp jumped behind him and they high- fived.  
"Let's go kick some alien butt. Ten bucks say I can hit more than you!"   
"You're on!" shouted Fitz and the two ran back into the fray.   
\-----------------------------------  
It was a few minutes before Skye found him. He was hovering above an overturned taxi, idly shooting bolts of energy at terrified civilians. Skye formed a giant hammer which she flung at him, but he blocked it with a wave of his hand.  
"Oh! Skye! Nice of you to join us!" He said, forming daggers which attacked Skye with lightning speed.  
Captain America's shield appeared in front of her and she hid behind it as the daggers bounced around her. She charged at him, hitting him in the stomach with all of her force. Ward doubled over, winded, but was soon up again, swiftly punching her in the ribs.  
Skye retailed with a kick to the skins and tried to grab his neck, but he caught her hand and held it there.  
"Oh, and your girlfriend? She was brave, right until the end. Shame you couldn't save her." Skye growled, forming a huge sword in her hands and bringing the blade down onto the hand around her own. He screamed, his hand flying through the air, but dark energy rushed to take its place.  
"I'm like you now, Skye. Join me, and we can rule the new world, together." Ward grinned, waving the new, dark shifting mass of energy he was using as a hand. Skye fled.   
She turned several blocks, not caring where she was going. She was breathing heavily, her golden energy faltering as she tried to calm down.  
"Skye!"  
Skye's ears pricked up and she almost cried when she saw the figure below her.  
She dropped to the ground, in between the wheels of a car on its side and a wall, before she ran over and bundled Jemma in a hug.  
"Ward told me you were dead." She sobbed, burying her head in her girlfriend's shoulder.  
"Hey, and since when do we believe what he says?" Jemma laughed breathlessly and wiped the tears off of Skye's cheeks and her watery smile.  
"I'm right here, alive and well. I'm safe."   
Skye couldn't help it, she lifted her head and kissed Jemma with all the force she had, filling it with love and passion and the simple joy of being alive, knowing that in any other moment, they might not be.   
"I love you." said Skye, breaking the kiss and untangling herself from Jemma. "I mean, I wanted to say it earlier, but..."  
"Don't worry, darling, I understand. Now, we have forever to talk about this, but you kinda need to defeat the bad guy first." Jemma rummaged in her pockets before bringing out a small black bag filled with syringes.  
"Now, this is four times your regular dose, so it should be enough to finish him." Skye quickly pulled up her top and peeled back the plaster, letting Jemma insert the medication.  
"Are you sure this is safe? Like, we've never gone this high before." asked Skye.  
"I'm very sure. You're essentially going to have a sugar rush of epic proportions." Jemma rubbed the plaster back in place before kissing Skye gently.  
"You'll be fine, I'll be right here when you get back."   
Skye nodded and closed her eyes, feeling the energy rush along her back, when she opened her eyes, her irises glowed a pale yellow.  
She shot up and flew along the street in a flash.  
Jemma suddenly wondered if this had been a good idea.  
\-----------------------------------  
Ward was taking pot shots at a group of tourists when Skye barrelled into him, pulling him up and away from them. Soon they were 50 foot above the city, parallel to the portal, which crackled occasionally.  
Ward threw a bolt of energy into the sky, forming it in mid-air and catching it again when it formed a huge mace. He swung it viciously and Skye plucked a sword from the air and brought it down. The two weapons met with a vicious crunch, before Skye pushed the sword up and out, swinging it at his midsection. The mace reformed into a double ended sword which Ward swing round to meet Skye's.  
"She's alive. You lied again, Ward!" yelled Skye over the din from the streets below. Hundreds of people had turned to watch them, two figures in the air, one coated in golden energy, the other in darkness.  
"Oh boo hoo. She's better off dead." He spat, and Skye thrust the sword away, flipping it around and driving the hilt into his chin. Ward's head snapped back with crunch. He melted his new hand and used it to push his neck back into place.  
"Jemma's twice the person you'll ever be. And she's also a better kisser."  
With Ward still reeling, Skye spun round and delivered a swift kick to the stomach. Ward flew back, screaming, into the void. The void pulsated and closed with a bang, sending Skye cartwheeling across the sky.  
Below her, the aliens were in hasty retreat, trying to pile into a secondary portal which was being held open like a curtain by Skye's father. Skye was very pleased to see one eye had been punctured, and was oozing green fluid. She flew towards him, energy encompassing each fist, but before she could get there, he too had jumped into the void, shutting it behind him. Skye thought she heard a 'goodbye' floating across the wind, but it could have been nothing.  
When Skye sank to the ground, the whole team was there to meet her, as well as hundreds of civilians, some of which cheered half-heartedly. Sky's feet touched the pavement and she stumbled forwards, but was quickly caught by Jemma. "Skye, that was brilliant!" she said, kissing her on the cheek. "Shame he went through the void. I wanted to kick him in the balls, just one more time." said May, with a hint of a smile on her face. Skye opened her mouth to speak, but Fitz gasped and pointed.  
Through the dust, a figure emerged, all black leather and bright red hair. Skye gasped too. It couldn't be...  
"Hello Skye. I'm Agent Romanov from SHIELD team A." She stuck out her hand and Skye shook it, bewildered. "I'm a massive fan of your work by the way; love the whole sword/hammer/shield thing you got going on." Agent Romanov gushed, before realising the entire team was looking at her with bewilderment.   
"Oh yeah, business. Skye, I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So then Skye accepted, then had a sugar crash of epic proportions and she fell asleep on the bus back to the playground, across Jemma's lap.
> 
> Caelum - sky  
> Pluviae - rain  
> Pupilli - ward  
> Eruo – saviour
> 
> The language i used is latin, mainly becuase lots of spells and magic is associated with latin and because it looks cool! ( i also used google translate please forgive me if it's wrong )
> 
> Also this is now totally finished! Mainly because I have no idea how to write the Avengers and also because i want to move onto bigger and better things! My next fic is a massive multichapter though, (like rlly big) so you've got that to look forward too I also have the whole ww2 au to get working on bcos ppl wanted that too 
> 
> For updates on my fics and other oneshots (which i wouldn't publish here bcos they're too short) follow me on tumblr - badassowin.tumblr.com
> 
> Thanks for reading, you guys have been so nice with all your comments and kudos it's been a blast!

**Author's Note:**

> next chapter out soon i promise (which will have more skimmons yay)  
> thanks for reading! feedback is always nice :3


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